Fire-Breather

  Once upon a time, there was a girl who could breathe fire whenev-er she was mad. This was good in some ways. People would be able to tell when she was mad (if they were lucky, and they knew about it ahead of time, they'd bring marsh-mellows). But in other ways, it was bad. Like when she accidentally singed her crush's hair in the third grade. . .The Fire-Hair Incident. Everyone was very traumatically scarred. 

  Anyway, one day the girl got real-ly annoyed with her parents. She felt like they never listened to her, and when they did, they just didn't get it. She was so frustrated! She went outside and let out a long, angry scream, the fire leaching into the air. She still had a lot of pent-up anger. She was one who bottled up her emotions most of the time. She let out another scream, but this one was shorter, quieter. 

  It just so happened that the boy she had a crush on lived next door. Sometimes she loved this, sometimes she hated it. 
  When she heard his voice, she wasn't sure which one she should be feeling. 
  "Hey, Mia!" Dan said. He hopped the wooden fence that separated his backyard from hers. 
  "What do you want?" Mia asked, extremely embarrassed. Since her crush was also her best friend (the funny thing is they became best friends after the F.H.I.), he could tell she was just upset and angry. But he knew she wasn't angry at him. 
  "Well, I just wanted you to let me know next time you're gonna be angry." He held up a bag of marsh-mallows. "You know, so I can bring the correct gear." He grinned. 

  This managed to get a smile out of Mia. It always made her smile when people joked about her supernatural ability to breathe fire when she was angry. She calmed down a little, with Dan's help. 
  "Well, unless you or I somehow become psychic, I don't think I can warn you," Mia replied. Dan smiled. 
  "Glad to see you're not as angry anymore. So what is it this time? Grades? Siblings? Boy troubles?" Dan teased. Mia's heart fell. She knew Dan was joking, but what made it worse was that he could joke about that with her. In Mia's mind, that was definitely a big sign that he only liked her as a best friend. 
  "It's my parents. I feel like they just don't get it. Yet they claimed to 'have been teenagers before and gone through the same things.' Yeah, right!" Mia vented. 
  "I get it," Dan said. "I've been through that before. I've been through that a lot of times. The thing I did, is I just found someone who I could tell all that to." Dan looked at Mia. "Do you remember who I chose?" Mia met his gaze. She remembered. Dan told her everything. 
  "Okay. I'll do the same thing. Do you have Jill's number?" Dan's face fell. Mia smiled. "Just kidding! Of course I'd choose you to tell my secrets to, Dan. You're my best friend in all the world." Dan felt a lot better. 

  Because, the thing is, Dan liked Mia back. A lot. He just wanted to be there for her whenever he could and this seemed like a perfect time to be there for her. 
  "So what's up with your parents?" Dan asked. "Why do you think they aren't listening to you?" 
  "Whoa, Dan, no need to get psychological here."
  "Sorry. Let me rephrase that: what makes you think they aren't listening to you? Do they act distant or something?" 
  "Well, it's just that they worry so much about things that don't seem very big. To me, they make a big deal out of nothing. And then when something really is a big deal, they act like it's nothing!"
  "Yeah, I get it. They do the exact opposite of your opinion." 
  "Exactly! Thanks for being here for me, Dan." Mia hugged him. 
  "What are best friends for?" Dan replied, even though he wanted them to be more than friends. He didn't know that Mia wanted them to be too. 
  "Yeah. . .best friends. . ." Mia sighed a little in her head. 

  Mia didn't know this, but her eyes changed color according to her mood. They didn't change when she was angry because the fire-breathing blocked them out. When she was angry, they stayed brown. But when she was sad, they turned a crystal-clear blue. Since she didn't really carry a mirror all the time, she had no way of know-ing. 

  Dan, however, did know what her eyes did according to her mood. When she was feeling happy, they changed to a bright, lovely green. When she was feeling relaxed, her eyes turned gray. He never told her because this gave her an advantage to how she was feeling. So right now, he knew she was feeling sad. What he didn't know was why.